


so full of shapes is fancy

by mischief7manager



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Theatre, F/M, Perc'ahlia Vacation, References to Shakespeare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 23:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7777453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischief7manager/pseuds/mischief7manager
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"As she paces backstage, hands trembling with nerves, Vex takes a moment to remind herself that this is all Vax’s fault. </p>
<p>Vax was the theater nerd, Vax was the one who saw the audition call, and Vax was the one who sweet-talked her (bribed her, really) into trying out.</p>
<p>'It’ll be fun,” she mutters to herself, 'no one ever casts actual twins, we’ll have an edge, it’ll be an experience-” She narrowly resists the urge to kick the wall. 'Fucker.'"</p>
<p>The show is Twelfth Night, and Vex has to deal with opening night jitters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	so full of shapes is fancy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for curriebelle's Perc'ahlia Vacation fic exchange, off taz-devil's prompt "Backstage at the theatre." No spoilers.

As she paces backstage, hands trembling with nerves, Vex takes a moment to remind herself that this is all Vax’s fault. 

Vax was the theater nerd, Vax was the one who saw the audition call, and  _ Vax  _ was the one who sweet-talked her (bribed her, really) into trying out.

“It’ll be  _ fun _ ,” she mutters to herself, “no one  _ ever _ casts  _ actual twins _ , we’ll have an  _ edge _ , it’ll be an  _ experience _ -” She narrowly resists the urge to kick the wall. “Fucker.”

“Ah, Vex?”

She turns. Percy stands a few feet away, just having entered from the hall leading back to the green room. (Which isn’t even green, theatre people are so fucking weird.) He’s in costume, trousers and suspenders over his faded band t-shirt, all part of the director’s “pseudo-modern steampunk bohemian rock n’roll-esque” vision. Vex isn’t sure what exactly the meaning of all those words in combination is, but the effect, when paired with Percy’s shock of white hair, is quite striking. 

“Yes?” Vex gives him a smile, tugging at her own costume. The vest and long, flowing skirt aren’t exactly her usual style, but she rather likes that. It makes it easier for her to get out of her own head, slip into Viola’s character. Or it usually does, anyway.

“Are you alright?” Percy steps forward, making almost no noise in his sock feet. Orsino’s in a bit of disarray in his first scene, so he’s not wearing the boots or long blue coat that complete his ensemble. Percy wears it well, one side of the suspenders falling down against his thigh, hair ruffled. When she doesn’t answer him, he frowns, reaches out as if to put a hand on his shoulder.

Vex shakes her head. “I’m fine!” she says brightly, smile firmly in place. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He quirks an eyebrow. “Stage fright?” When she bites her lip instead of answering, he smiles a little, reaches up to adjust his glasses. “It’s quite alright, happens to the best of us.” 

When Vax had talked Vex into auditioning for  _ Twelfth Night _ , into doing Shakespeare, Percy was exactly the sort of person Vex had expected to have to work with. With his dry RP accent, the way he never really socialized, the rumors that he’d actually gone to Drama School (always pronounced with the capital letters), he seemed precisely the sophisticated snob she’d spent most of her life being pissed off by. Keyleth, their Olivia, struck up a friendship with him and swore he was actually nice once you got to know him, but Vex had remained unconvinced, until one night after rehearsal.

It was fairly early on in the process, and it was one of the nights where Vex had been called in but Vax hadn’t. For all they were twins, Viola and Sebastian didn’t spend a whole lot of time on stage together, and this particular scenework had only called for Viola, Orsino, and various servants and attendants. Vex had already had a long day at work, and she hadn’t looked at her lines like she should’ve, and it showed, and Uriel, their director, had… Not yelled at her. That might’ve been better. Instead he just told her that if she wasn’t going to take this seriously, maybe she should consider finding something else to focus her time on. 

Vex can handle people being mad at her. She really sucks at handling people being disappointed in her.

So she’d left rehearsal and walked about 20 feet out of the building before bursting into tears. She’d wanted nothing more than to go home to her apartment and her brother and her big brown bear of a dog, when she’d heard someone come up behind her, and of  _ course _ it was Percy, because her night wasn’t shitty enough as it was. She’d honestly expected him to be mean to her, but instead he’d stood there and listened as she’d spilled the whole story: how Vax had talked her into auditioning, how she’d said yes not thinking she’d actually be cast, how she’d been struggling with the lines because she’d never done anything like this before, how badly she wanted to quit except then she’d be letting her brother down. Percy had let her talk herself silent, and then he’d pulled an honest-to-god handkerchief out of his pocket, let her wipe her nose, and offered to help her with her lines. And he had, he’d come in early to rehearsals to run lines with her, helping her decipher the language and the meter, explaining the more obscure references, all without ever being condescending.

It’s because of his help that Vex feels comfortable stepping forward and dropping her head against his chest. He tenses in surprise a little, and his hands flutter before settling gingerly around her shoulders. “I don’t want to screw this up,” she says softly into the fabric of his shirt. 

Percy actually  _ tuts _ at her, which is enough to make her smack him in the chest. “You won’t,” he says, pulling back so she looks him in the face. “And if you do, I can always cover for you.”

Vex laughs. “You’ll, what, improvise in iambic pentameter?”

Percy grins. “See? Two months ago, you didn’t even know what that was.”

They smile at each other for a moment. Vex is about to speak when Pike, their stage manager, sticks her head out from the hallways. “Five minutes to curtain,” she says, white-blonde hair a shock against her black clothing

“Thank you, five,” Percy and Vex parrot back automatically. They both watch Pike leave, already talking into her headset. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Vex says. Then, off Percy’s questioning look, “For the help with the lines and- well, everything.” 

He smiles, and bows like he does to her in the show blocking. “Anything for my lady.” 

Vex, ridiculously, blushes. Which is so stupid, she  _ kisses _ him at the end of the show, for god’s sake, one bow shouldn’t send her into a tizzy.

_ But the kiss is in-character _ , whispers a small voice in the back of her head.  _ This, now, is just him, and you _ .

Vex ignores it. “My lord,” she says instead, sweeping a highly exaggerated curtsy in reply.

Percy laughs. Vex loves making Percy laugh. “Seriously, though,” he says when they’ve both stopped giggling like children, “you’re going to be wonderful.”

Vex grins. “Damn right, I am.”

Percy smiles at her. He looks like he’s about to say something, but before he can, Pike comes back in, focus and determination writ large across her face. “Places, everyone!”

Before she can talk herself out of it, Vex stretches up and presses a kiss to Percy’s cheek. “Break a leg,” she whispers, and then darts around him to take her place in the wings for her first entrance. She watches as Percy blinks a couple of times, then takes his place onstage, draping himself over the couch down-center in an exaggerated pose. As the curtain rises, Vex feels a thrill of excitement ripple through her, and she can’t stop her smile from growing as Percy launches into the opening scene.

“If music be the food of love, play on…”

**Author's Note:**

> i have an entire cast and crew list for this fictional production that didn't make it into the fic proper, so i might... have to revisit this fic 'verse. at some point.


End file.
